Biologists have been trapping turtles in southern areas of New Hampshire this summer as part of a five-state, three-year study to help figure out why some species are in decline.

There are over 300 types of turtles worldwide. New Hampshire has seven and one, the Blanding's turtle, is considered endangered. Wood turtles and box turtles are a species of concern, spotted turtles are threatened and the snapping turtle, the painted turtle and the common musk turtle are considered more common.

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New York, Massachusetts, Pennsylvania and Maine are also using the same research protocols to trap, measure and assess turtles. It is hoped that with maps in hand, biologists can go to town conservation commissions and charitable groups to help protect habitat and have a better handle on their overland travels.

Last week I joined Fish and Game's Cameron Duquette and Loren Valliere in a swamp somewhere in Goffstown where they were checking on their traps.

We were lucky enough to find two turtles which were measured and marked and set free.

The public is helping with this assessment project.

After they report sightings and photograph turtles at RAARP@wildlife.nh.gov, the teams set an underwater trap. Usually turtles like to eat tadpoles but the offering of sardines in soybean oil is, apparently irresistible. It only adds to the stale, rank smell of the swamp.

The turtles find their way into the mesh but can't get out.

I love turtles. So this, for me is fun and exciting to visit the set traps.

These trapped turtles were just not happy to see us and wanted to release their wrath on us. But they really are more bluster than bite, and except for the neck which can swing around, they can't run too fast.

Netting subdues the largest of the two, a six-pound female snapping turtle, until the lines are off. And by snapping turtle standards, she is small. The earlier one caught in the day was about 23 pounds.

They can get to be 50 pounds and live to over 100 years.

Blanding's turtles are usually seven to nine inches in shell diameter, but about this size.

The biologists measure the shell, examine the bottom of the turtle to find approximate age (which is like counting the ring years on a tree), sex, weigh the turtle and using a file, they mark one of the "scoots" on the back of the shell, which does not hurt the turtle but gives them future information to draw from.

Illegal reptile trading is putting a new emphasis on protecting turtles.

The project has identified two distinct areas where Blanding's turtles are living but the location is undisclosed to protect them.

You should not bring home a turtle that belongs in the wild nor should you release a turtle that was captive into the wild. The later can cause disease.

Road kills have been on the increase and the questions about why that may be happening are under study. Loss of land to development is definitely at issue. Turtles need land to lay their eggs and Blanding's turtles are known to move across land great distances to find a good spot. If more spots are developed the distance is greater.

Named for naturalist William Blanding, they can be identified as having a pure yellow throat and lower jaw, a high domed shell and small yellow flecks. They are average in size and are quite gentle.

Another factor in decline could be that not enough are reaching reproductive maturity, at about age 14. But once they reach that age, they can lay eggs for decades, and right up to their death. Eggs can be preyed upon by raccoons and other predators so that may too be an issue.

The location we visited in Goffstown, Friday was not one where there had been recorded sightings of Blanding's turtles, but instead, came up through research as a likely spot.

Using a "rapid assessment" through the use of traps does not necessarily give the biologists a thorough picture on the wetlands area, but if a Blanding's turtle is found in the trap, it would give them pause to study it further.

In the five traps set, only one trap had anything in it and they were both snapping turtles.

Valliere notes that the five-state project will offer a "big picture" that has never been had before and that working together, there will be a far larger body of information on what is going on and what can be done to protect endangered turtles.

"We've come a long way," Loren said, noting the first year of study in the state's 25-year-old Non-Game and Endangered Wildlife Fund had two people who found a total of 15 Blanding's turtles one summer.

Last year, the first year of this study, 100 turtles were caught and this year, it is looking like about the same number. Blood samples are drawn from the Blanding's turtles to study disease.

Biologists hope people help the slow, overland travelers get across roadways safely, when they can do so safely, protect known hillsides where they nest and report sightings to the program.